PUCT Approves New Delivery Rates for TNMP

The PUCT approved without modification to any substantive terms an unopposed stipulation to establish new delivery rates to be charged by Texas New Mexico-Power to retail electric providers (38480).

The stipulation, first reported by Matters (12/13), includes higher monthly customer charges for residential customers, but does not place 50% of the residential revenue requirement in the customer charge as originally proposed.

Under the stipulation, residential distribution service charges will be as follows:

Residential Current New
Customer Charge (per ESI ID per month) $1.40 $4.00
Metering Charge (per ESI ID per month) $2.20 $1.25
Transmission System Charge ($/kWh) $0.004980 $0.00
Distribution System Charge ($/kWh) $0.017578 $0.017347

As suggested by the rates above, TNMP will remove wholesale transmission costs from its base rates under the stipulation, and recover all such transmission costs through the Transmission Cost Recovery Factor (rates provided below).

The stipulation provides that, prior to its next general rate case, TNMP will perform a load profile study for its specific customers and service areas, for use in allocating costs among customer classes.

TNMP will also continue the existing demand ratchet waivers for the Secondary Service > 5 kW and Primary Service classes under the settlement. TNMP, in a proposal supported by Staff, had originally proposed to remove the demand ratchet waiver for Municipal Pumping customers with a peak annual demand of more than 20 kW in the prior 12-month period. This change would have applied the same rules to Municipal Pumping customers regarding ratchets as those applied to other customers -- specifically, that only customers with a maximum demand equal to or less than 20 kW are eligible for a waiver of the ratchet.

TNMP's proposed Storm Hardening Cost Recovery Factor (SHCRF) Rider was not approved under the stipulation. Based on the pro forma tariff leafs, there are no changes in discretionary service charges under the stipulation.

Under the stipulation, distribution service charges for the Secondary Service Less Than Or Equal To 5 kW class will be as follows:

Secondary <= 5 kW Current New
Customer Charge (per ESI ID per month) $2.50 $2.50
Metering Charge (per ESI ID per month) $2.20 $2.20
Transmission System Charge ($/kWh) $0.007789 $0.00
Distribution System Charge ($/kWh) $0.029612 $0.033323

Distribution service charges for the Secondary Service Greater Than 5 kW class will be as follows:

Secondary > 5 kW Current New
Customer Charge (per ESI ID per month) $4.25 $2.56
Metering Charge (per ESI ID per month) $13.30 $10.74
Transmission System Charge
Non-IDR Metered (per NCP kW) $1.7206 $0.00
IDR Metered (per 4CP kW) $1.1200 $0.00
Distribution System Charge (per NCP Billing kW)
Non-IDR Metered $5.50 $6.0981
IDR Metered $5.50 $5.2808

Distribution service charges for the Primary Service class will be as follows:

Primary Current New
Customer Charge (per ESI ID per month) $22.00 $34.50
Metering Charge (per ESI ID per month) $265.00 $204.98
Transmission System Charge
Non-IDR Metered (per NCP kW) $1.0520 $0.00
IDR Metered (per 4CP kW) $2.5966 $0.00
Distribution System Charge (per NCP Billing kW)
Non-IDR Metered $4.80 $4.7102
IDR Metered $4.80 $5.1286

Charges under the retail delivery tariff for Transmission Service voltage levels will be as follows:

Transmission Voltage Current New
Customer Charge (per ESI ID per month) $180.00 $214.51
Metering Charge (per ESI ID per month) $3,994.47 $1,751.67
Transmission System Charge (Per 4CP kVA) $1.800 $0.00
Distribution System Charge (Per 4CP kVA) $0.0399 $0.00

The Transmission Cost Recovery Factor will be established as follows:

TCRF Current New
Residential ($/kWh) $0.000603 $0.006450
Secondary <= 5 kW ($/kWh) $0.001314 $0.004318
Secondary Service > 5 kW
Non IDR Metered (Per NCP kW) $0.138251 $1.5194
IDR Metered (Per 4CP kW) $0.220103 $2.0500
Primary Service
Non IDR Metered (Per NCP kW) $0.130902 $2.0622
IDR Metered (Per 4CP kW) $0.196127 $2.2538
Transmission Service (Per 4CP kVA) $0.218034 $2.0663

The PUCT's final order, yet to published, will modify the proposed order's findings to state that the continuation of the 20% discount in delivery rates provided to state universities under the settlement shall not be recovered from other customer classes, consistent with the Commission's finding in a prior Oncor case.